Punjab records 50 per cent fewer farm fires, yet air quality shows no impact in Delhi

Farm fires in Punjab, often blamed for the rise in Delhi’s air pollution, have gone down by 50 per cent since last year in the post-harvest period, with little effect on the air quality in the national capital.

From September 15 to October 27, Punjab has seen 1,995 farm fire cases as compared to 4,059 in the corresponding period last year, as per data from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre.

The farm fire incidents in the period have gone down by 75 per cent since 2022. The state recorded 8,147 farm fires in 2022 in this period.

After paddy harvesting in October and November, stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and states adjacent to Delhi are said to contribute to pollution in Delhi. Paddy procurement is underway in Punjab.

On Sunday, Punjab saw 138 farm fires—Ferozepur with highest such incidents, followed by Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib, according to data.

On the same day in 2022 and 2023, the state had seen 1,111 and 766 farm fires, respectively.

However, the drop in farm fire cases has not had a significant effect on air pollution in Delhi, where air quality was ‘very poor’ with an AQI reading of 355.

As the window for Rabi crops like wheat is very short after paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue for sowing the next crop.

With over 31 lakh hectares of paddy area, Punjab produces around 180-200 lakh tonnes of paddy straw every year.

Punjab recorded 36,663 farm fires in 2023, registering a 26 per cent drop in such incidents from the year before.

The state recorded 49,922 fire events in 2022, 71,304 in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018 with many districts, including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar, witnessing a large number of stubble-burning incidents.